Gold News & Info

Source:Marketwatch

San Francisco— Gold futures climbed to their highest level in two months Thursday to tally a two-session gain of $21 an ounce as weak U.S. economic data pushed the dollar lower against major currencies, spurring investment demand in gold.

"A report showing U.S. productivity slumping to nil certainly had financial markets doing a big double-take," said Jon Nadler, an investment-products analyst at bullion dealers Kitco.com.

"Such a bleak set of background factors, coupled with the complete absence of good news on the real estate market situation…paint a rather somber picture for the U.S. dollar and the equities market," he said.

And "this type of news is, of course, the stuff that precious metals thrive on, as the need to hedge for all of these risks emerges once again."

Gold for December delivery closed up $8.50 at $627.80 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange after trading as high as $628.30, the contract's strongest levels since early September. Prices climbed $12.50 on Wednesday, so they're up 3.4% in two sessions.

Gold's close Wednesday "above the 100 & 200-day [moving average] and clearance of the $608-$612 chart congestion leaves the metal well placed for further gains with upside resistance pegged at $625 and potentially $645," said James Moore, an analyst at TheBullionDesk.com

But that's "barring any sudden collapse in the price of oil or surge in the dollar from tomorrow's non-farm payrolls reading," he said in a note to clients.

Gold found support as the dollar fell against the euro and yen. See Currencies. The U.S. Labor Department report showed lower-than-expected productivity growth in the third quarter.

Rounding out action in the metals pit Thursday, December silver futures climbed 17.5 cents to end at $12.65 an ounce after rising more than 20 cents in the previous session.

January platinum closed up $63.50, or 5.6%, at $1,164.20 an ounce, extending Wednesday's over $14 gain. Strong buying has helped lift the contract to its highest levels since Sept. 19. Sister metal palladium saw its December contract also climb $2.65 to close at $326.75 an ounce.

And after falling just over 3% on Wednesday, December copper rose 5.05 cents to end at $3.2915 a pound.

Copper supplies fell by 142 short tons to 23,102 short tons as of late Wednesday, according to Nymex data. Gold inventories were down 40,451 troy ounces at 7.53 million troy ounces and silver supplies were unchanged at 105.9 million troy ounces.

In equities, metals-mining shares moved higher after ending on a mixed note in the previous session.

The Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index traded at 139.21, up 1.4% and the CBOE Gold Index added 1.5% to stand at 144.62. The Amex Gold Bugs Index climbed 1.6% to 325.04.

The DJ Wilshire Nonferrous Metals Index rose by 1.5% to 5,015.30. The DJ Wilshire Industrial Metals Index traded at 2,986.62, up 0.4%, and the DJ Wilshire General Mining Index climbed by 0.9% to trade at 1,347.57.

In metals news Thursday, Barrick Gold said third-quarter net income climbed to $405 million, or 46 cents a share, from $113 million, or 21 cents a share. Sales rose to $1.63 billion from $627 million. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call expected earnings of 49 cents a share. Shares of the miner were up 1.2% at $31.36.